Customer Reviews

Perky-Pet 737 Garden Sip & Seed Feeder

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Cardinals, woodpeckers, mocking birds, wrens, finches, sparrows, and squirrels all love this feeder system. Squirrels might chew on the "saucers" -- they have chewed on mine, but the unit still functions well. I think there's a metal-capped version which might be less likely to show damage from chewing.

The seed feeder is easy to fill with a funnel-type reversible scoop and the water container is easy to fill with a water hose. However, you have to turn the containers upside down to refill because the clear chambers have only one open end. If the seed container isn't empty, you might want to pour the remaining seeds into something before turning it over and refilling. I do wish the seed chamber especially was accessible from both sides for this reason.

I haven't had any significant problems with the seed getting damp, maybe because the birds empty it so fast! I am surprised how many birds actually use the water container. They actually do drink from it, however it does need to be cleaned with a bottle brush periodically.

This feeder looks very pretty in my yard and is worth the price.

This is an attractive, lightweight feeder that despite being made almost entirely of plastic does look nice and give the impression that it is copper. It's easy to install with the included hanger -- no assembly necessary -- and the hanger's scrolled design complements the feeders nicely. The trays and perches are very suitable to the smaller birds most folks like to attract, such as chickadees, nuthatches, and finches.

I've chosen to use sunflower chips in one silo and water in the other; so far, the birds haven't shown a lot of interest in the water, although the chickadees seem to like the "one-stop shopping" arrangement. My nearby neighbor has a nice birdbath, so it doesn't surprise me that birds might find the water silo's little tray less attractive. I bet it would be a very welcome feature if you feed birds in an arid climate, however; nothing attracts birds in the desert like water!

Your satisfaction with this feeder probably depends on what type of bird feeding you do. I feed quite a lot of birds year-round with a variety of food ranging from safflower seeds to grape jelly, and this feeder probably won't be in the rotation for very long. It doesn't hold much seed (although it is convenient that both silos can be converted to hold seed just by switching the top and bottom around). In order to fill the silos, they must be inverted and the bottom screwed off, which means it can't be filled while it's hanging and needs both hands to fill it; even with the decorative finial removed from the top, it doesn't sit stably enough to pour in seed without holding onto it. This also means you'd better be able to pour from your seed container with one hand. Flipping it over to rehang it after it's filled makes using the water silo a splashy experience, too.

I prefer feeders that hold a large quantity of seed for less-frequent filling and enable convenient pouring from a large bag of seed or a large scoop. I also prefer as few parts that must be removed for filling as possible since I'm sometimes working with mittens on my hands and trying to get out of the cold as quickly as I can.

If, however, you want a small, attractive feeder that will look very nice on your deck or in your garden, you may really like this Birdscapes Sip & Seed. It's lightweight enough to hang from a shepherd's crook or small branch. The ports are large enough (yet also small enough) to allow you to feed many different kinds of seeds. Offering water is always a great idea for attracting more birds, or you can easily experiment with two different kinds of seed. If you have a setup where it's convenient to simply remove the feeder and take it inside to work with it, fiddling around with the caps and seed may not be an issue for you. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think I might just move it to my deck!

Update: I've been using this feeder for awhile now and am still less impressed with it. The water silo was easily contaminated by the seed from the other silo, and between that and the hot weather, the water became foul in less than a day. I had to switch both sides to seed (again, it's nice that this is an option).

Also, we had heavy rain, and because the trays are made to hold water, they did, long enough for water to seep into the seed, causing it to swell and spoil so that none could come out of the openings. It was easy to clean out, but irritating to have to do it.

On a positive note, the feeder still looks nice despite exposure to rain and sun, and the smaller birds really like it. Even a downy woodpecker perches and pecks at the sunflower chips. I put a finch mix in the former water side, and it attracts a good variety, too.

And, believe it or not, so far this feeder is not attractive to the squirrels in my neighborhood! They are always checking out the hopper feeder that is right next to this one, and they destroyed a finch sock in no time flat, which had the same mix I've now got in this feeder. For some reason, it has not occurred to any of them to hop onto this feeder and eat from/chew on it. If this continues, the feeder will certainly stay in use!

This is a very practical, useful product with a new twist...it also has a 2nd container to use as a water dispenser for your little feathered friends! Now they can sip and eat. It also has burnished copper uniquely designed as both top and bottom mounts for the containers; also comes with a beautiful free-form copper hanger. I recommend it!
Again a first-time order and I definitely will be back to shop.
Thanks Birdscapes!
Birdscapes® 737 Garden Sip & Seed Feeder

I have had several types of bird feeders and I like this product. It is well made and easy to use. It looks good too and the birds like it. I would recommend this product and company.

I got this bird feeder/waterer yesterday, and I was immediately pleased with how the feeders looked!
The containers are plastic so they are durable but they do still look very nice.
Does not look cheap at all!
The design would look great in any yard and the bird will love you for it!
I hung it in my front yard from a shepherd hook and within 10 minutes the feeder had birds flocking to it!
Within the past day the feeder is about a quarter empty and I looked under the feeder and there is only a few pieces of food under-- and thats probably from the birds dropping it- because I have had feeders in the past and majority of the food ends up on the ground!
I really like this feeder and with it hanging on the shepherd hook I havent seen any squirrels trying to feed from it!
It rained this morning and the food inside stayed dry as well!
I will be buying one of these for my mother and mother in law!
Very nice!

This bird feeder does feel like a quality product and well made. I did find it hard to keep the water from spilling all over when I went to hang it up after filling it. It also seems to bounce around and some birds didn't seem to care for that too much. Maybe they'll get used to it.

My use for this attractive feeder is somewhat unconventional. The idea of using one side for seeds and one side for water is a good one. However, there are also two other possibilities: to put seed in both sides or to put water in both sides. Because of where I choose to hang this feeder, my option is to put water in both sides; but because of the weight, I fill each side only one-third to no more than one-half full, keeping the sides somewhat balanced. This will allow the birds to get water. This feeder has held up well in my garden (several months), but again, I take care not to put too much water in it for fear of breaking it.

What I discovered the hard way is that if you put seeds in these containers and hang them over soil, the birds do love it and throw the seed everyone on the ground. Then what happens is that the uneaten seeds sprout in the soil and you now have grass where you may not want it. If you hang these feeders over concrete, you are constantly sweeping everything up, plus, again, if the seed falls anywhere soil is, it sprouts. As for the current price at over $27, well, to me it is worth about $20; the plastic is fairly sturdy, but it still is overpriced in my opinion.

I paid extra money for this to be wrapped and it wasn't! Know what do I do!!!! I am stuck with it.

Received very quickly. These feeders are a nice size. Will hold a nice amount of feed. The birds will love them.

I really like that this feeder has the look of metal but is made of impact-resistant plastic. I say impact resistant because I dropped it three times getting it out of the box (yes, I'm clumsy). I was worried the plastic of the feeder trays might crack or shatter, but they were fine. If they had been metal, I probably would have dented them. The container portions are clearly a flexible material, and lightweight, so I wasn't worried about those. Knowing myself, I anticipate many drops in their future, so I was pleased with the durability. I hope the shatter resistance lasts after they've had UV and freezing temperature exposure, but I'll need a year or so to test that.

This feeder has a clever, attractive design. But inverting the containers you can use either or both for dry feed or water. They're easy to remove and refill, and the hanger is both attractive and clever. I was also surprised at how secure it is! The containers stayed put--and didn't even lose any contents--in the aggressive Kansas wind.

It was very popular almost immediately--the downside being that the birds also discovered my tomatoes, and I had an absolute plague of them bothering my tomatoes all summer, even after I removed the feeder. I'll definitely hang it back up in the winter, though I'll probably replace the water with extra feed once it gets cold.

The only con I see is that the containers are a bit small for my taste, though not at all too small on average, compared to other feeders I see on offer. But as someone who's rather lazy and not accustomed to maintaining feeders, I could see refilling becoming an issue.